Fresh off the most entertaining race of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the teams head back to Europe for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
While Max Verstappen was able to further enhance his World Championship lead, he had to do it the hard way, pushed right to the end by the chasing pack and that figures to be the case once again.
Both Mclarens are starting to find some real pace, while the Ferrari’s are always a threat and maybe, just maybe, Mercedes will fire this weekend at one of Lewis Hamilton’s favoured events.
Read on for our best bets and full race preview for this weekend’s Formula 1 Grand Prix from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Track Stats
- Direction: Clockwise
- Lap Distance: 4.657km
- Total Laps: 66
- Race Distance: 307.236km
- Lap Record: 1:16.33 (Max Verstappen, RBR, 2023)
- 2023 Podium: Max Verstappen (RBR), Lewis Hamilton (MER), George Russell (MER)
- Most Event Wins: Michael Schumacher (1995, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) / Lewis Hamilton (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Race Winner
It still is Max Verstappen’s race to lose, but it’s tough to justify backing the Dutchman at his $1.44 price at publish.
Not to mention he now does not have the margin for error the way he did over the last 12 months and the competition is getting closer, even if this circuit does suit the Red Bull car.
There was less than five seconds between the top four drivers in Canada and there is reason to expect a similarly close result here.
While it is tempting to take the storyline of Carlos Sainz at $21, his record in Spain is good but not exactly what you would want to inspire confidence, having never finished lower than ninth but also never above fourth.
The same applies to second favourite Lando Norris with two retirements, a tenth, ninth and two eighth place finishes, maybe this is where he breaks through but again it’s not enough to back with confidence.
Where there might be some value, is in the winning car market, backing a Mercedes to win with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both real chances here.
They finished second and third here last year and were third and fourth in Canada, so to back a little bit of chaos and a bit of fun, let’s back a Mercedes win.
Winning Car: Mercedes @ $9.00
Podium Finish
Let’s start off with a double down on Mercedes, particularly George Russell who looks like a great chance to land on the podium here in Barcelona.
Since shifting to Mercedes he has finished in third in both Spanish Grands Prix and is showing a real improvement over his last few races.
If you like a storyline bet, have a play on Carlos Sainz to finally finish on the podium in Spain as the Madrid native looks to bounce back from a disappointing race in Canada.
George Russell Podium Finish @ $3.50
Carlos Sainz Podium Finish @ $3.50
Top 6 Finish
The top eight in this market are all $1.50 or lower with Fernando Alonso given the best chance of breaking up that group of drivers at $2.75.
Perhaps if there will be a few crashes and safety cars to bring pit stop strategy into play, plus reducing the number of classified drivers it might be worth having a play but this looks like backing any individual driver might be a stay away.
However given the Mercedes them to this preview, backing both drivers to finish Top 6 at even odds is about as good as you can find for value.
Mercedes Double Top 6 Finish @ $2.00
Points Finish
Now it’s time to move away from Mercedes and double down on Red Bull-lite, otherwise known as V-CARB.
Fresh off his first Grand Prix points of the season, Daniel Ricciardo returns to the event where he has registered a couple of podiums at in his Red Bull days.
Not to mention his teammate has backed up his last two non-points finishes with a top ten classification this season so let’s have a play on him.
Daniel Ricciardo Points Finish @ $2.25
V-CARB Double Points Finish @ $4.00